stick with it

personally AND as a teacher, i get really annoyed when i see people quit something for reasons other than financial or a legitimate injury. people nowadays have no self-discipline, perspective, or perseverance. i have had a fair amount of my violin students take a couple months' lessons then just up and quit, not because i was a poor teacher, but because they thought it was hard. well of course it's hard- you know that. you need to ask yourself (or your kid) is this something you really like and want to invest in, or are you just looking for temporary entertainment. my point is why bother us teachers at all if you aren't going to stick with it, or make your kid stick with it? not only is it annoying and a waste of our time, but it's heartbreaking for us to see you quit, not only because we've invested our time and effort into you/your kid, but because you could've been great and you could've had an amazing skill that could get you far in life and you could've enjoyed the successes and happiness thereof. that's the greatest thing any teacher could ever hope to see each of their students enjoy. that's what drives us to be teachers in the first place.

kids and adults alike need to learn a sense of self-discipline. parents nowadays are so lax with their kids; they baby them and let them quit the moment things get difficult. that teaches the kids RIGHT THEN that they can worm their way out of anything as long as they say it was too hard for them. these kids will see the success they had in saying that, and will likely continue to say it to get out of homework, social situations, college, jobs, obligations, marriage, or who knows what else? how is that acceptable in any way? if we allow all these kids to say its too difficult, then give in and let them quit, we eventually get a bunch of worthless adults who still have no self-discipline, no perseverance, no foresight, and who are douchebags that don't contribute to anything. how are we to survive as a species or make any progress whatsoever if our future is dependent on these children whose shitty parents let them bail on everything? you know that if the parent lets them quit something once, it's likely they're going to let it happen again and again. pathetic. frankly, kids are generally dumb and aimless; that's why we put them in lessons or on teams, so they can LEARN skills and how to function properly. i think kids HAVE to have someone pushing them. they need someone to help them find something they enjoy and/or have natural talent in, and they need to be pushed to meet their potential. THAT is how we get great musicians, great scientists, great leaders, and great people. THAT is how we continue to make progress and be successful.

of course the student will have moments where they want to quit, and they hate it more than anything, and they want nothing to do with it, but that is when their parent or their coach or WHOEVER their supporter is needs to step in, remind them of the successes they've already had and are yet to have, and keep pushing them whether they like it or not. my own mother pushed me with violin, and i am BEYOND thankful to her for doing that. i loved violin for the first 3 years or so, and then for the next 5 years i hated it more than anything. my mom had to force me to practice. i can't even begin to tell you how many days she literally had to push me through the door at lessons, or stand there sacrificing her own time to stare me while i practiced just to make sure i actually did it. and even though i'm sure i hated her for it at the time, i'm glad she had the, ahem, balls to keep me playing. she had amazing foresight, saw that i was talented, and must've known that i would find success in violin and that it would enrich my life, which it has. now because of HER efforts and support, i've been able to play with a lot of great groups in a lot of cool venues. i've made life-long friends from orchestra. i got accepted into music programs, and got scholarships. i've got quite a few jobs along the way because of my knowledge of violin, and now im able to make my living from it, which is the greatest feeling in the world and which has been a big goal of mine for almost a decade. and now that i've seen my own successes with my talent, i am going to push my students so they can have the skills to have those same opportunities. all my students who have stuck with it are SUCCESSFUL. they are all making progress each lesson, and they are learning these wonderful traits- self discipline, perseverance, etc- that will help them succeed in every aspect of life, not only with music.

for all you naysayers who believe that you shouldn't have to do something you don't want to do, you need to grow up. THIS IS REAL LIFE. nobody wants to work a shitty job or pay bills or deal with annoying people. but that's just the way life is, and the sooner you accept that, the sooner you can meet your own successes.

i believe everyone has potential, and that everyone has a talent for something. there have been a lot of wildly successful people in our history, and they did not get that way by quitting when things got tough. these people are role models, and it is my wish that more parents will have the cajones to make their children stick with it, because it won't kill them.